PSEi, markets cower as Trump threatens dramatic rise in tariffs vs China

The local stock barometer fell sharply on Monday as fresh US-China trade war jitters spooked global markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled by 105.68 points or 1.33 percent to close at 7,862.30.

This was after US President Donald Trump released two tweets threatening an increase in tariffs on nontech goods imported from China to 25 percent from 10 percent. All other goods currently untaxed will also be slapped with a tariff of 25 percent, according to Trump.

“The tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China. The trade deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!” Trump said.

Trump’s tweets gnawed on sentiment across global markets.

At the local equities market, all counters ended lower but the biggest decline was seen by the financial sub-index, which lost 2.19 percent.

The industrial, services and property counters all dropped by over 1 percent, while holding firms and mining/oil counters also slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.25 billion.

There were 146 decliners that overwhelmed 56 advancers, while 35 stocks remained unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by ICTSI, which slid by 6.36 percent, followed by BPI which went down by 3.09 percent.

Metro Pacific, URC, SM Investments, BDO and Bloomberry all declined by over 2 percent.

Ayala Land, SM Prime, Metrobank, Megaworld and AGI all lost over 1 percent, while Ayala Corp. and Security Bank slightly declined.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable decliner was retailer SSI, which shed 3.72 percent.

On the other hand, Globe Telecom gained 3.61 percent after announcing a 40-percent year-on-year growth in core net profit to P6.7 billion.

PLDT also added 2.05 percent while AEV rose by 1.06 percent. Shares of Jollibee also slightly gained.

A gainer outside the PSEi was Cemex, which added 0.87 percent.